[1, 3, 4] selju rastar reyrþvengs ‘the willow of the path of the reed-thong [SNAKE > GOLD > WOMAN]’: This kenning is one of the common woman-kennings formed according to the pattern ‘tree of gold’. Despite the explanation of selja immediately following the stanza in Skm (see Context above), the ‘willow’ must have been the original meaning of selja in kennings. Even though women are often called ‘givers of something’ in Old Norse prose literature (e.g. matselja ‘food-giver’; Fritzner: matselja), it would not have been a woman’s role to dispense gold. Tree-names, on the other hand, often appear as base-words in woman-kennings (Meissner 410).
References
- Bibliography
- Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
- Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
- Internal references
- (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=112> (accessed 9 May 2024)